Zuni Cafe's $8 Nectarine Dessert Is Just a Nectarine; Diners Left Confused
As enticing as the $8 Blossom Bluff Nectarine dessert at San Francisco's Zuni Cafe may sound, be aware that all you'll get is a whole nectarine on a plate. Celeste at Chowhound describes the dish: "A plate came out, with exactly what they ordered - just a plain nectarine rolling around on the plate. ..It seems like a joke but is not." But there's a bonus—the peach comes with a steak knife! [via Eater SF]
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35 Comments:
What a rip off...
ronzoni at 1:21PM on 08/19/08
no kidding. what a bunch of jerks.
unarata at 1:32PM on 08/19/08
Seriously? That's just sad. At least cut the thing to order? Isn't Zuni famous for making Ceaser salads to order? They can't cut a piece of fruit???
Phil W. at 1:36PM on 08/19/08
Maybe that's what "Bluff" refers to.
juliec at 1:41PM on 08/19/08
What the article failed to explain is that Yoko Ono was the chef that night.
JudgeFudge at 1:58PM on 08/19/08
Dang, haute laziness in place of haute cuisine? I mean, beyond the insanity of charging $8 for a SINGLE PIECE OF FRUIT they couldn't take 5 minutes to slice it and present it properly?
peachfish at 2:00PM on 08/19/08
Actually that is a very common way of presenting fruit in Europe--the whole fruit and just a knife. I have eaten some amazing pieces of fruit that way and never felt ripped off. Perhaps the menu description could have been clearer.
ghendrix at 2:07PM on 08/19/08
For $8 that nectarine better drive me home...
juliebugsmama at 2:09PM on 08/19/08
Oh somebody call the WAAAbulace for all those crying about $8 for a perfect nectarine....
A black jumbo watermelon produced in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido was on sale for 630,000 yen (US$ 5,945) at Tokyo's Isetan department store Friday, June 6, 2008 shortly after being flown into Tokyo, some 500 miles south of Hokkaido, following its bidding earlier in the day. The 24-pounder (11 kilograms) premium Densuke is the biggest among the first of 65 sold as part of the season's initial harvest and another Densuke that weighs 17-pound (8-kilogram) has fetched a record 650,000 yen ($6,100).
Chefhorn at 2:24PM on 08/19/08
What ever Chef Boy Ar Dee Horn.
Can you try any harder to be a douchebag?
Jim Glover at 2:39PM on 08/19/08
Lots of "special" objects "fetch" pretty spectacular prices when they're being bid on by people who bid on things. I'm assuming this isn't the setup at Zuni.
markemorse at 2:42PM on 08/19/08
@Jim Glover: LMAO over here.
WOuldn't have been so bad if it was filled with amazingness-like a creme brulee or frozen custard or canolli filling...You get my drift.
Butrflygirly at 3:00PM on 08/19/08
In my humble opinion... that is ridiculous. The only nectarine worth $8 is the one that would save your life if you were starving to death. Period.
Life is full of choices, and an $8 nectarine is just not a choice I would make.
Brownie at 3:05PM on 08/19/08
The price of it isn't what gets me; nor is it the fact that it's just a nectarine by itself. What I can't get over is that the pastry chef (or, more likely, someone else in the kitchen) either didn't have enough professional pride or couldn't be bothered to at the very least put a lettuce leaf under the darned thing so it wouldn't roll around. That photo could have been taken at any hospital cafeteria.
juliec at 3:13PM on 08/19/08
Had a meal @ Zuni not to long ago, $48 for a "roast chicken for two" was definitely overpriced. Sure it may have been the best roast chicken I've ever had, but you can also get a $6 roast chicken in Jackson Heights. Sure they put it in a wood-burning oven, but c'mon IT's a FRIGGIN CHICKEN!!!!! $8 for a nectarine is even more ridiculous.
mepm231 at 4:11PM on 08/19/08
It seems to me the issue is presentation and expectations. If the menu had said, "The most perfect and delicious whole nectarine we could find", it wouldn't bother me. In fact, given the right mood, I would consider buying it. I certainly don't spend $8 on fruit everyday, but having splurged on Indian mangoes a couple times, I've learned the value of truly transcendent fruit.
capndesign at 4:46PM on 08/19/08
Maybe they are trying to make some sort of statement like "all a nectarine needs to be delicious is itself". It's kind of like my thoughts on sweet potatoes. Anyone? Anyone? But yea...if I were them I wouldn't charge $8.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 5:17PM on 08/19/08
The fruit bowl at Chez Panisse cafe is $8 and was nothing more than a whole plum (Harold's Miracle Plum) and a handful of berries. Sounds ridiculous but it was totally worth it.
blim8183 at 5:20PM on 08/19/08
is this some sort of political statement about rising food costs? because if it is, then ok. but i would still want a least a dollop of ice cream or my 8 dollars back cause a WHOLE nectarine is not dessert, it's a midday snack.
midgepingleton at 5:46PM on 08/19/08
Simply send it back and say you've changed your mind. Or keep it, and leave it as a portion of the waiter's tip. Tell the waiter beforehand, so maybe he can get the point across to the management as he's asking to cash it in for the $8.00.
Boscompb at 6:11PM on 08/19/08
Bring one with you, and ask for a clean plate. Tell the waiter that you don't need to order dessert after all
Boscompb at 6:28PM on 08/19/08
A Fool ....... whoosh! ....... His Money
srhcb at 6:44PM on 08/19/08
haha, that's awesome. have fun eating your nectarine!
jeffsayyes at 7:48PM on 08/19/08
i'm a pastry chef looking for a job, if they're hiring. i'd be great at plating whole nectarines.
dmarina at 9:08PM on 08/19/08
I've said it before on Serious Eats, and I'll say it again: I've never had a good experience at Zuni. I've eaten there three times and each time, the service was snotty and the food either overcooked or undercooked. The arrogance that goes along with putting a piece of fruit on a plate and charging $8 for it is a good example of this.
maered at 9:12PM on 08/19/08
Perhaps the nectarine IS that good ... the menu should've mentioned it. This may be customary some places ... generally not in the US.
KuyasKitchen at 10:27PM on 08/19/08
Was the pit of the nectaring pure gold? Did it perform some magic trick? There must be more.
beth1 at 12:33AM on 08/20/08
Chefhorn, poiting out that even more ridiculous things happen somewhere else doesn't make this any LESS ridiculous; it just means that someone in Japan might consider this a bargain.
peachfish at 9:55AM on 08/20/08
Damn...typical SF gag...yeesh. :( Why don't you give the patrons a coupon for farmer's market instead?!
femme003 at 3:39PM on 08/20/08
The original Chowhound post was in error, as the actual price for this pristine, though unsliced, nectarine was $4.50, not $8. I still this is taking ingredient fetish a bit too far, but it isn't a complete rip-off.
paulh at 2:17PM on 08/21/08
@paulh: You're right, the nectarine was only $4.50.
Raphael at 6:38PM on 08/22/08
I love white fleshed nectarines though it seems a little pricey for one plain nectarine uncut to be served as a dessert. Presentation is sorely lacking in my book.
For the sum of $4.50 I would have preferred the nectarine slices fanned around the pit with a small dollop of flavored whipped cream. Flavorings could range from a crystallized ginger mixed in with the whipped cream or vanilla bean whipped cream or even a more traditional flavor which compliment nectarines such as cinammon whipped cream. It's not as if simply partially slicing a nectarine is all that labor intensive and it does make for a more visually appealing dessert whether it's whipped cream or simply heavy cream.
Now that I live alone I've found I enjoy a small amount of heavy cream which has been lightly sweetened with either sugar or honey and poured over fruits such as nectarines, strawberries or white fleshed cherries. (something I'd never had before until my small grocer purchased a flat of the white fleshed cherries).
sls817 at 6:25AM on 08/23/08
the poor lonely nectarine, rolling around on the plate getting bruised
in it's final moments.....
i understand the cost and value of "pure food" ... but that said, honor the nectarine with at least a cushion prior to its being devoured.... a eulogy proclaiming it's special importance would have seemed appropriate.
i'm not familiar with zuni -- but i'm a little fed up with these high end
places that charge so much money for their food and act like they're
doing you a big favor.
i believe in respecting the customers as well as the food.
pooch at 12:25PM on 08/24/08
Nor is it original. Alice Waters invented this Dadaesque approach to desserts many years ago. I sat and watched the jaws of a young man and the girl he had intended to impress drop as the waiter (Probably Pigrim at that date) placed the $8 peach plus knife in front of them. "But," stammered the young man, "I thought it was a *dessert*. It's just a peach!." The waiter looked the length of his nose at the kid, pulled himself up to full height and hissed, "It's the *perfect* peach."
There are a number of birthday suit clad emperors prancing around in a Alice Land, where Gordon Pilgrim and Judy Rogers got earned their stripes. It's not surprising that they picked up a few tricks there. In fact, knowing what the cadre is willing to pay for "perfect", $8 may reflect the standard product markup.
Some of us have learned, however, that perfect is second to best tasting most times. Those of you who visit farmers' markets may have noticed that the better fruit you bring home is never quite as good as the sample..and if you look closely at the sample, it's usually one with a brown spot or two.
schweig at 1:54PM on 08/25/08
This is what they do in Rome, Italy. When I was 11-1/2, we went to Italy for some of the summer. We went into a trattoria in Rome and I asked for a peach that I saw in a display in the front. They brought me the peach and a knife. I sliced it and ate it. It was the juiciest and most wonderful peach I ever ate! One bad point - it gave me the worst case of gastrointestinal distress I ever had! It was worth every second of it though - I can remember how wonderful it tasted!
Maybe these are the most wonderful nectarine's on the planet. The only way to know is to try one! Yes, it is a bit obnoxious to just give you a nectarine on a plate for $8 when I can buy 4 of them at $2.98/lb at the farmers market - but if it is really outstanding in flavor, then Zuni must feel it is worth it to do that. I've never been to CA so I have no idea.
I'll stick to the $2.98/lb farmers market white nectarine's that I have been getting lately. They are absolutely awesome.
RisaG at 4:29PM on 08/25/08